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Instagram now auto-translates @mentions of usernames when you share photos on Twitter

This is fantastic. Instagram has just done something I’ve been wanting it to do from day one. It translates the names of people you share photos with on Twitter to their appropriate Twitter name, even if their Instagram name is different.

This means you can mention @mpanzarino on Instagram, and it will get auto-translated to my Twitter name, @panzer. This way it doesn’t break mentions when you share photos out to Twitter. Which will allow people who haven’t checked Instagram — and have a different username on the service — to see that you’ve mentioned them while using Twitter.

Previously, when you shared a photo out from Instagram with a mention of another Instagram user in it, that was just dead text on Twitter if their name was not identical. Now, it will be a live Twitter link and trigger a mention for the person.

Note that this only works if the person you’re @mentioning has connected their Twitter account to Instagram.

Here’s how the rules shake down:

If the @mentioned user has connected Instagram to Twitter:

The user’s Instagram username will appear in the photo caption

The user’s Twitter username will appear in the tweet

If the @mentioned user has not connected Instagram to Twitter:

The user’s Instagram username will appear in the photo caption

The @ sign will be removed from the username when shared to Twitter

For @mentions that do not match any Instagram usernames, the @ sign will remain when shared to Twitter.